Accompanying Giulia, the caretta caretta sea turtle, from the treatment center of the Asinara marine park to the La Maddalena marine park where she was released this morning in Spalmatore bay, were the director Vittorio Gazale, the commissioner Giovanni Cubeddu and Laura Pireddu, manager of the recovery center.
Following the last phases before returning to its natural habitat, accompanied by thunderous applause, as well as Giulio Plastina, director of the La Maddalena Park, the staff of the institution, the mayor, the vice mayor, the commander of the MM military garrison and at the commander of the Port Authority, there were a couple of hundred people, mostly pupils from public and private primary schools.
The sea turtle, about 10 years old, had been found a month ago by two island fishermen, entangled in their nets, and they had handed it over to the National Park which had disposed of it, with the coordination of the Port Authority and the support of the Cooperativa Insule, the immediate hospitalization at the Center for the Recovery of marine fauna in difficulty in Asinara and entrusted to the care of veterinarians. The turtle Giulia, despite the long return journey along the streets of first Anglona and then Gallura, appeared in good shape and, removed from the container that housed her, quickly walked along about ten meters of beach and then immersed herself in the clear and fresh waters of La Maddalena, returning to its natural habitat.
The deputy mayor and councilor for the environment, Federica Porcu, present at the release, recalled the difficult conditions in which sea turtles and cetaceans in general live, who risk not only running into propellers, but also becoming entangled in nets, as had happened to Giulia, but also to ingest plastic and micro plastic, which is increasingly present in the sea to a worrying extent. And it is no coincidence that only a few weeks ago , councilor Porcu signed an ordinance which prohibits the release of balloons made of rubber or similar material, even if biodegradable, filled with lighter-than-air gases ; the ban is extended to colored ribbons, Chinese lanterns and other aerostatic devices capable of dispersing, without control, into the environment.
